‘PNM dollars a heavy price for equality’

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday told a crowd at Divali Nagar 2004 that “the few dollars that the PNM hands out here and there must not be a substitute for equality.” “If you allow that to happen it will be a heavy price for your right to be treated as equals, a one sided sale for which your children and their children after them shall curse you until eternity,” he said in his address on the closing night of the event on Wednesday. The UNC leader added: “In any case it is not their money that they are giving you, it is yours the taxpayers’ money, and you are entitled to it. Do not let a few dollars more disunite you or cause you to give up the struggle against discrimination and oppression.” Panday described the 2004 Divali celebrations as the best experience he had for many years because “of the proliferation of lights all over the country  and because of the unity I see developing amongst the Hindus in this land.”

He said he was overjoyed to note that the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) had honoured Satnarayn Maharaj, General Secretary of the Maha Sabha. “If this is a sign that unity among the Hindus is about to become a reality then great things are in store for this country,” he said. Panday noted that since the Nagar started 18 years ago, Maharaj had never attended because there were some areas of disagreement between the Maha Sabha and NCIC. The Opposition Leader said he was convinced that “among the Hindus there are sufficient intelligent, willing and able men and women who can become the catalyst  for the kind  of change that this country is crying out for.”